Category Archives: Broadcasters

Dan takes a critical look at the BBG as government transition commences

View of the Capitol Building from the roof of the Voice of America on 330 Independence Ave., S.W.

View of the Capitol Building from the roof of the Voice of America on 330 Independence Ave., S.W.

SWLing Post readers are likely aware that contributor, Dan Robinson, is the former White House, Congressional and foreign correspondent for the Voice of America.

I’ve just learned that Dan has authored a piece questioning the viability of the BBG as the US presidential transition take place.

Dan’s commentary titled “What’s A President-elect To Do . . . With the BBG?“ appears on the University of Southern California Center on Public Diplomacy site:

http://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/whats-president-elect-dowith-bbg

I encourage you to read his full article and please direct your comments to the original post on the Center on Public Diplomacy website.

ABC International to increase investment in services for Chinese, Indonesian and Pacific audiences

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ABC Australia

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Richard Cuff, who shares this press release from ABC International:

ABC International focuses investment in region

ABC International will increase its investment in media services for Chinese, Indonesian and Pacific audiences to offer more comprehensive coverage for regional audiences. These new initiatives, the result of a strategic review, mean ABC International will be better positioned to deliver a greater range of content in these areas.

The changes mean ABC International will create eight new positions to lead content areas and improve editorial and workflow priorities. However, ABC International has also made the decision to end foreign language services in French, Khmer, Vietnamese and Burmese, which are currently single-person operations.

The recommendations from the strategic review and the decision to close some services will fund this reinvestment across the network. ABC International will build on key relationships with China, Indonesia and the Pacific with increased investment in services including:

  • For Chinese audiences: an additional Mandarin language site allowing ABC International to deliver a full Chinese news service, for Chinese audiences across the region and Australia, complementing the AustraliaPlus .cn cultural exchange portal.
  • For Bahasa Indonesian audiences: two new roles will be created, a new Content Maker and a Senior Producer, to improve ABC International’s capacity to extend Indonesian language content.
  • For Pacific audiences: the creation of a new Senior Producer Pacific position focussed on enhancing content for Pacific audiences. This new role will also manage and schedule the Radio Australia Services and the Pacific and Tok-Pisin service that has a distinct value in reaching PNG audiences.

Two other new Content Maker roles will be created, one with a focus on telling Pacific stories to audiences in that region and a second position to tailor English content on Australian life for all platforms.

ABC International Chief Executive Officer Lynley Marshall said the changes to these services would benefit the wider audience base in the region.

“These changes are the result of careful consideration and commitment to our services in the region as we approach 2020,” she said.

“The ABC has a long history with the Pacific nations while Indonesian and Chinese audiences comprise a growing audience base, both across our region and here in Australia.

“ABC International is determined to uphold the highest standards in international media services including our expanding digital and social media services. These changes represent ABC International’s commitment to delivering compelling content to key audiences.”

The closure of the Vietnamese, Khmer and Burmese language services will become effective on 2 December 2016, while the French service will continue until arrangements with France Television end in February 2017. The closures will affect six positions and a staff consultation process will begin shortly.

For more information

Nick Leys
Media Manager, Corporate Affairs
03 9626 1417
[email protected]

Shortwave Relays This Weekend

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Transoceanic-Dial

(Source: Tom Taylor)

Hamurger Lokal Radio via Shortwave Station Göhren, Germany with 1KW to Western Europe:
6190 KHz Every Saturday 07.00 to 11.00 UTC
7265 KHz Every Saturday 11.00 to 16.00 UTC
9485 KHz Every Sunday 10.00 to 13.00 UTC
Contact email: [email protected]

European Music Radio via:
WBCQ to Central & North America on 7490 KHz on 19th November between 22.00 to 23.00 UTC
Contact email: [email protected]
Internet Repeats on 20th November 2016:
EMR will repeat this months Transmissions via two streams running at the following Times:16.00, 18.00, 20.00 UTC
http://nednl.net:8000/emr.m3u will be on 96 kbps /44 KHz stereo for normal listening
http://nednl.net:8000/emr24.m3u will be 24 kbps / 22 KHz mono will be especially for low bandwidth like mobile phones.

Radio City via:
IRRS to Europe on 9510 KHz (every Saturday) between 09.00 to 10.00 UTC
IRRS to Europe on 7290 KHz (every 3rd Friday) between 19.00 to 20.00 UTC
Challenger Radio to Northern Italy on 1368 KHz every Saturdays from 20.00 UTC onwards
Radio Merkurs on 1485 KHz Every Saturday between 20.00 onwards
Contact email: [email protected]

KBC via:
Media Broadcast to America on 6145 KHz Every Sunday between 00.00 to 01.00
Contact email: [email protected]

Hobart Radio via:
Channel 292 to Western Europe on 6070 KHz Sundays between 21.00 to 21.30 UTC
WRMI to Americas, Asia/Pacific on 9955 KHz Sunday between 03.30 to 04.00 UTC
WRMI to Americas, Asia/Pacific on 9955 KHz Tuesday between 22.30 to 23.00 UTC
WBCQ to North America on 5130 KHz Mondays 03.30 to 04.00 UTC
Unique Radio to North Australia Fridays at 08.00 & 14.00 UTC
Unique Radio to North Australia Saturdays at 07.30 & 14.30 UTC
Contact email: [email protected]

For outside the listening area please try the Twente/Netherlands Web RX at http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

You can also hear many European free and alternative stations via the Internet at: http://laut.fm/jukebox

Radio Channel 292 Transmission schedules on 6070 KHz (on the air every day): http://www.channel292.de/schedule-for-bookings/

Radio Mi Amigo Transmission schedules: www.radiomiamigo.es/shortwave

Good Listening!
73s

Tom

BBC World Service to launch 11 new language services

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(Image source: BBC)

(Source: BBC News)

The BBC World Service will launch 11 new language services as part of its biggest expansion “since the 1940s”, the corporation has announced.

bbc-newlanguageservices

The expansion is a result of the funding boost announced by the UK government last year.

The new languages will be Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu, Tigrinya, and Yoruba.

The first new services are expected to launch in 2017.

[…]The plans include the expansion of digital services to offer more mobile and video content and a greater social media presence.

On Wednesday the BBC launches a full digital service in Thai, following the success of a Facebook-only “pop-up” service launched in 2014.

Other expansion plans include:

  • extended news bulletins in Russian, with regionalised versions for surrounding countries
  • enhanced television services across Africa, including more then 30 new TV programmes for partner broadcasters across sub-Saharan Africa
  • new regional programming from BBC Arabic
  • short-wave and medium-wave radio programmes aimed at audiences in the Korean peninsula, plus online and social media content
  • investment in World Service English, with new programmes, more original journalism, and a broader agenda

The new language services mean the BBC World Service will be available in 40 languages, including English.

Lord Hall has set a target for the BBC to reach 500 million people worldwide by its centenary in 2022.

Click here to read the full article…

In addition, Mike Terry, posted a link to this Leading Article  from The Times which focuses on the BBC expansion. This content is behind a paywall (though you can register to read two free items per week) but here is an excerpt from the conclusion that I found particularly interesting:

“The radio may seem an irrelevance in the age of the internet but it is the most intimate of the so-called mainstream media and as such poses a challenge to authoritarian rule. Radios are cheap, ubiquitous and can whisper truths under the bedcovers. There is nothing that dictators hate more than direct access to the ears of their subjects.”

Indeed.

Advocacy group calls for reopening of Eye Radio

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SX-99-Dial-Nar

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the following item from the Sudan Tribute:

November 12, 2016 (JUBA)- The African Centre for Transitional Justice (ACTJ) has called on South Sudanese authorities to reconsider their decision to reopen the unilaterally closed independent radio station, asserting it is a clear violation of press freedom.

“This is a blatant press freedom violation. We call on authorities in South Sudan to reopen the radio station. In this particular context South Sudan needs free and fair media able to play a positive role in the country’s reconstruction and reconciliation”, the group says in a statement.

The statement condemned what it described as “disruptive and inexplicable act”, saying it is nothing short of an attempt to suppress media freedom in the region and demand that Eye Radio be allowed to resume broadcasting immediately.

Continue reading…

Foreign Affairs Committee believe “government should fund BBC Monitoring”

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(Source: Parliment.UK via Andy Sennitt on PCJ Media’s Facebook Page)

Government should fund BBC Monitoring, not the licence fee payer

bbc-monitoring29 October 2016

It was a mistake to end Government funding for BBC Monitoring in 2013 and that change should be reversed, say MPs on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Report findings

The Foreign Affairs Committee says BBC Monitoring is vital to the FCO’s scrutiny of developing events across the world. Highly valued by the Government, the service translates and analyses news and information from freely available media sources in 100 different languages and covering 150 countries.

Triggered by a shortfall of £4m in funding, the BBC now proposes an extensive restructure of the service, which would mean the closure of 40% of BBC Monitoring posts in the UK and 20% of posts abroad, and relocation of the service from Caversham to London.

The Government is the prime customer for the service. The Foreign Affairs Committee believes Government should restore funding for open source monitoring of media sources overseas, whether they pay BBC Monitoring or carry out the work themselves.

Chair’s comments

Chair of the Committee, Crispin Blunt MP, commented:

“BBC Monitoring is a highly regarded organisation whose work is more important than ever.

These cuts to BBC Monitoring, proposed by the BBC, are simply not in the interest of the UK Government. They will not help the FCO improve its performance in detecting trends and undercurrents overseas that have implications for UK policy – something it notably failed to do in Libya, for instance. Given the vast increase in social media output, this kind of monitoring is more important than ever.

Other countries with similar operations fund them from central Government. The principal benefit of the output of BBC Monitoring is better-informed Government policy, which is why the Government should fund it, not the licence fee payer. It’s notable that in the face of these cuts, government departments are in the process of recreating this capability internally. This should not be necessary and we should be bolstering the work of BBC Monitoring, not cutting it.”

Further information

Oxford Shortwave Log: DXing in the tropical rainforest of Pará, Brazil – part 2

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img_9956pl-680

Hi there, here is part 2 of my reception videos taken in the tropical rainforest of Pará, Northern Brazil. As I mentioned in my previous post, I took a Tecsun PL-680 with me on the trip because I didn’t want to risk losing or trashing one of my precious vintage portables but also because of the following:

  • It can handle a longwire very well without overloading (I actually only used a 5 metre wire)
  • An excellent synchronous detection circuit and audio bandwidth filtering options
  • Excellent sensitivity, as demonstrated by the many DX reception videos on YouTube
  • If it got lost or damaged it would be a pain, but not difficult to replace

So, what can you hear in the jungle? Part 2 of my group of reception videos follow below – I hope you enjoy them.

Tropical rainforest DX in Pará, Brazil: RMI Overcomer Ministry 11530 kHz

 

Tropical rainforest DX in Pará, Brazil: Radio Tamazuj 11650 kHz, Madagascar

 

Tropical rainforest SW in Pará, Brazil: Radio Nacional Brasilia 11780 khz

 

Tropical rainforest DX in Pará, Brazil: R Aparecida 11855 khz (TX distance 2430 km)

 

Tropical rainforest SW in Pará, Brazil: R Brasil Central 11815 kHz, Goiania

 

Tropical rainforest DX in Pará, Brazil: Voice of Turkey 11980 kHz

 

Tropical rainforest DX in Pará, Brazil: Radio Dabanga 13800 kHz, Madagascar

 

Clint Gouveia is the author of this post and a regular contributor to the SWLing Post. Clint actively publishes videos of his shortwave radio excursions on his YouTube channel: Oxford Shortwave Log. Clint is based in Oxfordshire, England.